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Austrian architects Coop Himmelb(l)au have designed an energy-generating canopy for a passageway in Perugia, Italy.

Called Energy Roof, the structure will consist of three layers: photovoltaic cells at the top, structure and wind turbines in the middle, and a glazed underside.

Here's some more information from Coop Himmelb(l)au:

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Wolf D. Prix presents 'Energy Roof' in Perugia, Italy

Wolf D. Prix, Design Principal and CEO of COOP HIMMELB(L)AU presented the design for the 'Energy Roof' during a press conference in Perugia, Italy, today. 'Energy Roof' is part of the research project ‚Walking through the History' of the University of Perugia. Beside the archaeological study this research comprised also the creation of an architectural icon.

'Energy Roof' serves as canopy along Via Mazzini in the center of Perugia and at the same time creates the entry point to the archaeological underground passage leading through the history of Perugia. The passage connects the city center with the mini metro station Pincetto. Historical documents show the existence of the old Etruscan city wall in the area below Piazza Giacomo Matteotti which COOP HIMMELB(L)AU proposes to excavate as part of an underground public gallery space exhibiting the history of Perugia. Openings in the ground of the Piazza Giacomo Matteotti visually connect the underground passage with the 'Energy Roof'.

COOP HIMMELB(L)AU developed the design of the roof with the goal to generate energy for the city. While the orientation of the west wing is optimized in relation to solar radiation, the east wing captures wind. The roof consists of three layers: the energy generating top layer, the structural layer in the middle and a layer on the bottom as a combination of laminated glazing and translucent pneumatic cushions. The top layer includes transparent photovoltaic cells to generate electricity and shade the sun. The orientation of the individual cells is generated and optimized by a computer driven scripting program. Furthermore five wind turbines that are placed inside the structural layer are generating additional energy. Both the roof and the underground passage are energy self-sufficient.

The new paradigmatic design of the 'Energy Roof' creates a distinctive and highly recognizable icon for the city and a statement for aesthetic sustainability corresponding with the ancient buildings of Via Mazzini.

you have to love its audacity, no?
Can't see Prince Charles loving it:)

Tjep

just dumb...There's creditable reason for it to look like that...At this point the architecture becomes cartoonish, for the 'fun of it' very much like post-modern architecture in it's hay-day....Maybe I'm just venting...

abe

Freaky.

kaptnk

doesn't really fit with surrounding at all.
It looks pretty radical. Though also totally over the top at the same time, the amount of energy generated would be dubiosuly low at best I imagine. Though it's very hard to tell from the images provided.

francesco

is never gonna happen in italy... people is too conservative.

ANdi

Energy roof?! Yeah right !

B

This press release is incomplete if it doesn't talk about the planned cost savings. The design is clearly alien to the neighborhood and ugly, so it better save people a hell of a lot of money in both the short term and the long term.

There seems to be a lot of airfoils in the design. I can see the ventrulli effect in use here. I know the renderings look complex, but it actually appear to be a simple roof apparatus.

Bottom layer is made out of airfoils and horizontal wind turbines. The top layer is a solar panel array that looks like it is set at an ideal angle for solar gain.

The only extreme aspect is the method of connecting the canopy to the space below. It'd be fun to see this in use.

WillM

i love the monstrosity of it. very alien vs. predator.

Why must all "green projects" be so addicted to differentiating themselves from existing (surrounding) languages. it is really the shortfall of the green revolution- an apparent need to let everyone know "HEY...this is green!"
this singular focus gets played out time and again and does wrong in turning its back on the aesthetic histories of architecture as a design discipline.

Filippo

i think that the center of perugia needs a fashion energy roof like an UFO to product a very little quantity of energy and a big punch in an eye for everyone

jack the ripper

oh la miseria ...

ll

there's going to be some serious pigeon droppings...

Giambix

Oh my God !

Gianluca

It remind me Edward scissor hands ... hope it's only a rendeer!

Juca

Please stop fooling us that viable wind energy can be generated in such settings. Find other ways to build your "new paradigmatic design of a distinctive and highly recognizable icon for the city"... this one's just obscene.

No doubt this monstrosity will consume many times more energy to get built than it will generate over its entire lifespan.

Gunnar Á.

Looks like giant sheets, hang out to dry...
Who forgot to take their laundry down?

francesca

So daring project, attractive and cool, I wonder if the italians are going to accept it....they are so conservatives and nostalgic....

bob

# ll Says:
January 21st, 2010 at 5:20 pm

there’s going to be some serious pigeon droppings…

just about to say the same....

james

OH MY GOD! IT"S THE MIDDLE AGES ALL OVER AGAIN!
TECHNO-GOTHIC KNIGHTS & WICHES ARE MISSING THE ONLY THING MISSING FROM THIS PROJECT

LOW

They don't fool me, that's a Transformer waiting to pounce on the unsuspecting inhabitants

Remember the "Friendly Alien" at Graz, anyone? I think urban clashes between old and new, traditional and freakish futuristic sometimes invoke critical thinking and bring changes.

alex

I think you are all missing the point. This contraption is designed to dry clothing hanging from the windows! The energy produced by this architectural wart will be used to power the washing machines. Gotta love the detail of how this 'thing' sits on top of the buildings.

It 's the sort of project Italy's bureaucratic inertia was designed to scupper ...

rdeamer

chill out. its kinda cool

Erik

Who crashed his plane there?

Dariusz

I have enough of this freakish new vs old. Let's make something that says a bit more about the surrounding.. It's absolutely foreign.. hope it's temporary..

jacrobat

It looks like some kind of Transformer gone wrong

Obscurity

It looks cool against the blue sky. Not shown here but very close by, is another form of architecture: http://bit.ly/6CVshp connecting medieval to modern in the citizens' mind - the context for this project.

Most of the comments on this thread are ridiculous. Architecture has always been an act of resistance. The canon of architecture itself is comprised of provocation, of projects that resisted the populist dogmas. Stop living in the failed modernisms of the past.

hayley ninaris

"Energy Roof", must be referring to the amount of energy it would take to make this crapper.

George (a different one)

What does it being self sufficient in energy mean? If it only produces the energy it consumes, what on earth can be the point of it? There seem to be no claims about it's proposed output.

It just seems like parametricism playing around with energy generation using bogus parameters, like all these projects you see that purport to interact in some way or other with their environment when really you know that it's all aestheticly driven.

Just put a turbine of a hill if you really want to generate power, and recieve 1000 times more energy returned on investment, than on this kind of specious nonsense.

Josh

Jesus!
Is this Corso Vannucci??
They CAN'T let this happen! What a nightmare!
Trust the commune of Perugia to OK something like this.... blimming useless....

hernindya

it will ruin the city harmony.
energy ? i dont get it?
an egocentric trash

bakku

Fun with lofting surfaces in rhino! The renderings are provocative, however this one should have been kept as a unfortunate 3D modeling study. With empathy the community and the community of architecture, I beg that this proposal be kept a study.

fraktal geometry... ehh... why not? but turbine, why? it's not only making noise but also producing little kW(?). Is the speed and the force of the wind between two building enough? i don,t think so.

YUK!!!

My Username says it all !!! What's the point of building something so expensive in a town center left in the hands of pushers and junkies...I think Perugia has already spent enough on the minimetro-flop!!!

WestminJames

architecture can be seen as two sides of a coin. on one we have the modern outlook pushing forward, challenging new designs because what is the point of design if we dont try something new and evolve? however on the flip side there is the aspect that we should still try and preserve our history and restore and conserve. the deisgn isnt too bad but is this really the best place they could have thought of putting this? seriously, im all of the old and new being brought together but this design is frankly a monstrosity. i dont doubt it would have become ''recognizable'' but an icon for the city, please, the Italians know far better than to approve this.

marwa altamimi

It seems to be like an alien. It doesn't fit the surroundings and it will disturb people who are living there.